I have had a discussion with several people about crank length and the answers are so varied. One lbs mechanic insists the difference between a 172.5 and 170 is minimal while my bike friend with tons of racing experience says it is a pretty big difference.


My 54" Trek came with a 172.5 while the 56" does as well. When I was having knee issues (that probably are more quadriceps) I wanted to try the shorter crank but I never did. One reason I am hesitant is I feel like I am going to loose the torch I get from the longer crank. Right now its not broke so I am trying not to fix it! LOL

So... to sum up... I think it could be different for you, especially going up and not going down in size.

Btw I have a triple and I have no complaints whatsoever!